1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to replication. Particularly, this application relates to managing replication in a distributed environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Companies today extensively rely on online, frequently accessed, constantly changing data to run their businesses. Unplanned events that inhibit the availability of this data can seriously damage business operations. Additionally, any permanent data loss, from natural disaster or any other source, will likely have serious negative consequences for the continued viability of a business. Therefore, when disaster strikes, companies must be prepared to eliminate or minimize data loss, and recover quickly with useable data.
Replication is one technique utilized to minimize data loss and improve the availability of data in which a replicated copy of data is distributed and stored at one or more remote sites or nodes. For example, when performing site migration, physical disks storing data or a node associated with such disk(s) may fail. In such a failure event, to ensure data integrity and availability, the remote replicated data copy may be utilized. Replication is frequently coupled with other high-availability techniques, such as clustering, to provide a robust data storage solution.
While the embodiments of the application are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments are provided as examples in the drawings and detailed description. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description are not intended to limit the embodiments to the particular form disclosed. Instead, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.